Dahye’s POV:

“So how’s this going to work again?” I asked Sehun confusedly. For the past hour, we had been speaking over the phone while he tried to explain this genius plan of his to get Jongin and Jay to talk things out.

Sehun sighed, “It’s going to work because they obviously care about each other but are way too prideful to admit it!”

That I had to agree with, but I wasn’t so sure that Jay unnie would fall for one of Sehun’s tricks-or rather my tricks. “Can we focus on something else now?”

“Something else?” Sehun repeated dully, “What else is there to focus on?”

“Us?” I said quietly, my cheeks burning in embarrassment, I let out a small cough to clear the awkward tension. I was glad that we were talking over the phone instead of meeting face to face or else I’d be a tomato. “I mean, where are we going tonight?”

“That’s for me to know, and you to find out,” Sehun said cheekily, “I gotta go now, but I’ll talk to you tonight.”

“Okay,” I breathed, “See you tonight.”

I clicked the off button on the phone and turned my attention to Jay unnie who was quietly making herself a coffee while the noise of the TV seated across from the kitchen blared out the sounds of my phone call.

“So, are you planning to talk to my brother anytime soon or-“

She shot me a look, making me quiet down immediately. “It’s really not of my best interest to speak to him now that this whole this is happening,” she held up a card that was laced in pink detailing and fancily decorated. The only words I could make out of the card was ‘marry,’ before she dropped the piece of paper on the countertop with a thud.

“He hates pink,” I muttered.

The coffee that Jay was pouring was beginning to overflow the cup and before I could warn her, the liquid scalded the top of her index finger, to which Jay responded with a dull ‘ouch’ and ran the finger under cold water. Even though she hadn’t mentioned my brother’s name in a while, I could tell by the look of her glassy eyes that it was all she thought about.

“Can you please be a little more careful?” I pleaded her, grabbing a wad of Kleenex to clean up the mess she had made.

Jay laughed a little, “Sometimes I forget who the older one is between us,” she remarks.

“Anyway, I want you to know that I’ll be late coming home today,” I said as casually as I could. The last thing I want to do is make Jay unnie even more frantic than she had been for the past couple of days.

Jay frowned, “Late? You’re always home before me, what’s going on?”

“I have a date…” I said, my cheeks burning once again, “with, you know…Sehun.”

Jay’s frown immediately turned into a small smirk, “Is that so?”

I gave her a firm nod and took a sip of the coffee, “Don’t wait up for me, and I’ll try to text you right when I’m about to come home.”

“Did you tell your parents that you won’t be home?” Jay asked, knowing that my parents would come visit me at Gwangju since it was a Friday.

“Yes, everything’s taken care of.”

Jay patted her wet hands on the sides of her jeans and laughed, “okay, okay, just make sure that you don’t run into your  brother or something like that.”

Jaein’s POV:

I was glad to know that at least one of us were in a good mood. I liked the thought of Sehun and Dahye together because they both kind of reminded me of myself when I was in high school.

“I’m going out to find an outfit, want to come?” Dahye asked.

I shook my head, “I’ve got to go to INB and help L with something.”

Dahye’s lips curved into a small frown, “Is that the guy you were pulled by at the cafe a couple days ago?” I nodded and grabbed myself half a bagel before stepping  into my combat boots. “He likes you.”

“I know,” I answer absentmindedly and slip on my other shoe, waving to Dahye before putting my key into the lock. “Don’t forget to text me, okay?”

“Do you have the same feelings?” Dahye asked quietly, but it was loud enough for me to hear. I gave her a small smile before giving her another wave goodbye.

“So now that it’s December, this is what you and L are covering for the next couple weeks,” Sunggyu pulls the black fabric away, revealing the white board with scribbles marking every corner.

“Uhh, what is this exactly?” L asks, his head tipping to the right and left, trying to read the messy writing.

Sunggyu rolls his almost non-existent eyes, “the top five stories of 2013! You guys are going to be covering each story every week until we get to the number one top story in entertainment news.”

“But what if something big happens in December? Will we have to change the entire story board or…?” Ailee asks, and the other boys agree with her.

“Okay then, you guys can be negative about it and not do the stories,” Sunggyu huffed.

“Seriously, how is he our boss again?” Ailee whispered into my ear, making me stifle a laugh.

“Oh come on boss, we’ll do the pitch but we’ll keep our eyes out for new stories that might make the top five, how about that?” Hoya offers.

Sunggyu’s pout turns into a small smile before he nods, “That sounds about right.”

“I think we’re going to have to work overtime for this,” L turns to me and taps on his notepad which had several stories written on it, “we’ll need a lot of time to go through all of the stories and pick out just five.”

I nod in agreement, “That’s fine with me, it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

L gives me a gentle smile before placing his hand on mine, “I’m glad we’re not one of those awkward pairs that don’t speak to each other after one of them confesses.”

“Totally.”

Dahye’s POV:

It’s only five minutes until seven o’clock and Jay unnie is absolutely nowhere to be seen. Usually she comes home around four which made me wonder why she wasn’t home yet. A loud ringing noise cuts into my thoughts and I answer the phone.

“Is she home yet?” Sehun’s asks gruffly between his panting.

“No, not yet and I don’t know why…she’s usually home at four- Are you okay?” I ask, not being able to focus on our plan when Sehun’s breathing was all I could hear.

“Me? I’m fine, I just slipped away from practice for a second to call you,” he says, his panting not getting any quieter. “Maybe you should just call her to meet you at SM and I’ll lure Jongin hyung to the same place?”

“I suppose I could do that, I just…can’t think of a reason why I’d be at SM…” I thought for a second, but no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with a reason.

“Say that you’re meeting me…and you need to powder your nose!”

I wrinkle my nose, “What?”

“I don’t know! Don’t all girls do that or something?” Sehun said exasperatedly.

I couldn’t help but laugh at Sehun’s innocence, “Really, how many girls did you say you dated again?”

Sehun grumbled something that was incoherent before saying, “you think of an excuse then…” My phone beeped indicating that Sehun had already hung up, and I giggled at the thought of Sehun being embarrassed.

I dialed Jay unnie’s number carefully and took a deep breath before pressing the call button.

“Hello?” Jay’s voice answered, only letting the phone ring just once.

“Unnie!” I tried to make my voice sound troubled, “I need your help!”

“What happened?” Jay’s voice changed into a worried tone.

“I need you to come to SM for a second, it’s an emergency!”

“SM? What for?”

I panicked and searched my mind for an excuse, “Powder! I forgot to bring powder and Sehun oppa is almost done practicing! Unnie hurry, this is a makeup emergency!” I cursed myself silently for actually using Sehun’s excuse but I really didn’t have time to think of another one.

“Really Dahye?” she sounded unconvinced.

“Unnie, do you want me to die of a shiny, oily nose when I go out on a date with the guy that I’ve been crushing on for a long time? Do you want to be held accountable for when he breaks up with me because I look like a dirty oil monster? Do you?”

“Okay, okay! I’ll be there in five!”

Success.

The glass door beeps to a close, and the slender body of Sehun slips between the crack to escape. I look at his state, his hair dishevelled and pushed to the left side of his face, a bead of sweat threatening to drop from his chin and his clothes damp from perspiration.

“Wow, don’t you look rather dashing,” I tease, poking him in the stomach.

“I didn’t have time to shower,” his face turns pink and he attempts to wipe off his sweat with the sleeve of his shirt.

I giggle at his cuteness and offer him a handkerchief, “Jay unnie’s going to be here any second now, where’s Jongin oppa?”

He points to the utility closet, “I took care of him.”

I gape at him, “You stuffed my brother in the closet?”

“He wouldn’t shut up so I told him that I kidnapped his dog and put it in that closet and I guess he bought it,” Sehun